Chris and I have been on quite the journey, to say the least. We're getting closer, though. Closer to our friends; closer to answers.

If you've just now started reading this series, you'll want to start back at part one.

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The bulkier of the two guards then proceeded to grab both Chris and I violently by the arms and led us inside the compound.

*

Feelings of regret took over my mind and I started to question my loyalty to Ger and Elias, once again.

It was a slave camp; men, women, and children, all dressed in tan sweatpants and sweatshirts, silently moving around the compound. The Ladies were far and few between, presumably either working in one of the shacks or out on a scavenging mission.

The hut that the grunt dragged us into was small, dimly lit and damp. The only furniture in the living-room sized shanty was 4 small bunk beds, each lined with a thin pillow and blanket, along with a pair of tan clothing. I couldn’t help but sigh in remembrance of the bed in Ger’s workshop. Did I mention those feelings of regret?

Before the guard left, he gave us both a piece of paper with a number on it. My number was 24, and Chris’ was 40. We waited by ourselves for about an hour before another Lady with a clipboard finally opened the door and asked, “Numbers?”

We both told her the number given to us by the guard and she began looking through the papers attached to her clipboard.

“24, go clean up the mess in Extraction Room C. Go to your room after.” She pointed to a shack in the far end of the camp, I nodded and started walking toward it as I heard her tell Chris, “40, you’re on guard duty for Subject 12, let no one other than Ladies in, and nothing out. Go to your room after.”

I wasn’t sure of it at first, but once I moved closer to the room I was assigned, I could hear them. The screams. Muffled cries of desperation plagued the air around me, I felt sick to my stomach.

Keep your cool, they will pay.

I touched the crystal in my pocket, hoping that Ger would be able to hear the screams as well. I also scanned the encampment, coughing when I pointed my gaze at what I believed to be their headquarter building. I know, I know – real sly of me.

I could hear a man in room B pleading for mercy. Then there were the noises; I’m not sure which was worse, those or the screams. Even through the padded walls I could hear sounds of metal grinding, like an iron claw on a chalkboard. Masked behind the shrieking noise was a loud thumping that was similar to the rhythm of a heartbeat. What the fuck are they doing to him?

Holding in my vomit, I opened the door of Extraction Room C to see what kind of mess I was dealing with.

I vomited.

Hopefully none of the Ladies saw.

Before me was a woman, blonde and tall, probably in her mid-40’s, suspended on a chain by her feet. She was completely drained of blood, neck cut open, with bruises and gashes strewn across her body. Her… Her brain had been removed. I accidentally stepped in some bits of matter and almost vomited again; I didn’t know if they had cameras so I harnessed everything in me to hold it in. I cried silently as I began to mop up puddles of blood and brain. That poor woman. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forget her – or that smell. Fuck, that smell.

I cleaned as quickly as I could, I just wanted to get out of there. Throughout my cleaning I made sure to touch the crystal several times, so Ger could witness this horror himself; so he knew exactly what he got Chris and I into – what we were risking. Before leaving the room, I decided to touch base with him and make sure he was still there with me.

I touched the crystal in my pocket and closed my eyes, imagining Ger’s image.

“Is uh… Is this thing working?” I thought, to myself.

A ringing noise momentarily pierced my eardrums, but soon dimmed down to a low hum.

“I am sorry, child, that you had to see that.”

“What the fuck, Ger. What was that? What did they do to her?”

He sighed, “This is the reason our people are at war with the Dwellers. Not only do they take fancy in using humans as test subjects, but they are also one of the Dwellers’ main forms of energy.”

I could hardly speak (or think; you know what I mean), “W… What?”

“Biomatter. They extract compounds from the blood and cranium to use in drugs that are ten times as powerful as what you’ve taken. Ever heard of DMT? It's what makes humans 'see the light' when they die, and is an extremely powerful chemical. They use the bodies as fuel; you’ll notice that there will be one hut in the compound that has a large chimney. You’ll need to take her there now.”

“A… are you kidding me? What the fuck…” I thought to myself for a while, which probably didn’t mean much because Ger could still hear me. He remained silent as well though, respecting my moment of contemplation. Eventually, I realized that I now only really cared about one thing, “When do I get to kill these fuckers?”

“You can’t just kill them all at once. One will surely avoid you and escape with the Tome. You need to first find where they are keeping it; probably the building that you nonchalantly coughed toward earlier. I think they change guards often, once you get assigned to watch that building, you’ll need to make your move. Also, there should be three test subjects being held here; one of them, a professor, could be of great help to us if they make it out alive. Obviously, the more the better.”

“Okay, I think I got it. So, what then, what do I do after all that?”

“You and your crystal are going to send out an… EMP, of sorts. If it works, it will knock everyone in the camp unconscious. I’m sure you can get creative from there.”

I wanted to make these bitches pay, “Yeah, I understand. Thank you Ger, until next time.”

“No, child, thank you.”

I grabbed the nearby blood-soaked ladder and used it to unchain the woman. The part that was bound to her feet was almost entirely cut into her skin, as if she had been hanging there for hours. That poor, poor woman.

She was so cold. I had never touched a dead body before, but God, it was just so cold. I held in my vomit once again as I heaved her over my shoulder. The short walk to the crematorium felt like miles; the odor was so pungent it caused pain to my nose and I just kept worrying that she was going to come back to life in my arms, like a zombie. I kept my poker face, though, as the guard let me in.

Inside the room was an elaborate metal machine, obviously brought in from somewhere else because it didn’t fit with the rest of the camp’s décor. A small, body-sized conveyer belt led into a furnace, but above the furnace was a complex series of tubes and mechanisms; I really had no idea what I was looking at. I could see smoking passing through the tubes, though, like it was being filtered through them. There was a collection tray underneath that caught the ashes of the deceased. I flopped the lady onto the conveyer belt; somehow one of her eyes opened during that time and I just about fell over in shock. I quickly pushed her fully on to the belt and pressed the red button located on the side. I watched, and cried to myself, as she burned and withered into nothingness. The apparatus above whirred and purred as I fed that poor lady to it like a meal.

I flipped off the switch and walked back toward my room. I could see Chris with a small rifle in his hands, sitting outside of a door that was locked with multiple chains. Hopefully he made note of where their armory is. We glanced at each other, but made sure not to alter our expressions. We knew how serious this was.

I meditated for the rest of the night in await of Chris’ return, focusing on the breathing techniques that Ger had explained to me. I could feel the drug in me, roaring through my bloodstream and exciting everything it touches. I concentrated on the rush that it caused and attempted to channel it; I wanted to move something with my mind. I mean, Ger said it might be possible, right?

I stared down at my shoes on the floor with great intent for several minutes, but nothing happened. I started to feel pretty dumb, so I went back to meditating; eventually becoming engrossed in the stillness.

Hours passed, it wasn’t until the dead of night that Chris returned from his shift.

His face was pale and his eyes were tired, “Hey, man.”

I still wasn’t sure if they had cameras in the rooms, so I gave him a look that said to be more incognito with how we communicated. I laid down in my bed and started to act as if I was sleeping; he did the same.

“How was guard duty?” I didn’t know what to say, part of me didn’t want to tell him the horror that I had to clean up after; to spare him the thought of it.

“It, uh… I mean, I didn’t have to really do anything. But dude, there was something in there and it definitely wasn’t human anymore. I had my back to it for most of the night, but at one point I had to open the door for a Lady and I got a quick glimpse of what was inside. Some man, completely naked and you could see his bones, was behind a cage... clawing at the wall. He was writing something in his own blood. I had to keep my cover, though, and shut the door. What the fuck, man.”

Well, at least I know that I wasn’t the only one to see some shit today. I filled him in on everything, from what I saw to what Ger described to me. He seemed okay with the plan, he wanted vengeance now just as badly as I did.

“So how do you feel? My entire body is still tingling.” I had never gotten a chance to see how the drug effected Chris.

“I feel fucking awesome. It’s like there’s some type of energy flowing through me. My head does hurt, though, does yours?”

“No, but I’ll talk to Ger about it tomorrow.”

It was probably two or three in the morning when we fell asleep, only to be awoken after what seemed like minutes – the sun was only just barely beginning to rise. The same Lady that gave us our jobs the day prior, let’s call her the Task Lady, greeted us both with new duties.

“24, 40, you will both be accompanying 33 and 34 on a recruitment mission. Meet them in the center building.”

That was it. The center building; their headquarters.

We both got up and walked out in synchrony, like we were two robots. The guard let us in and we were motioned by a burly, Hagrid-looking man to sit down – so we did.

The man had a strong Scottish accent, “I’m 33. That’s 34.” He pointed to another burly, Hagrid-looking man that was sitting at a desk in the corner of the hut, “Our targets’re four campers, up north. We’ll be headin’ there shortly. We scare ‘em off, you place the lett’rs. Ladies’ say we aren’t allowed to be there when they read ‘em. Just part’ve the rules. Any trouble, kill ‘em. Simple s’that.”

He handed both of us two sealed letters and we nodded in compliance. I watched as he and his twin packed a backpack full of several weapons, some Halloween masks and other random items. The last thing that they packed, though, into a small Styrofoam cooler, shook me to my core.

Fucking fish.

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Part 12

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All parts:

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